Compares Obama administration to replacement refs who botched end of Monday game

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan weighed
in on the controversy over replacement National Football League referees in a Tuesday town
hall-style meeting in Cincinnati, comparing the Obama administration to
the substitute officials who cost his home-state Green Bay Packers a
victory with their botched call Monday night.

“Give me a break. It is time to get the real refs,” Ryan said.

“And you know what, it reminds me of President Obama and
the economy — if you can’t get it right, it’s time to get out. I half
think that these refs work part time for the Obama administration in the
budget office.”

Ryan was referencing a play that should have been called an interception for the Packers but instead allowed the Seattle Seahawks to score a game-winning touchdown on Monday Night Foodball. Replacement referees — some of
whom may have been fired by the Lingerie Football League for
incompetence — are filling in for unionized officials who are locked
out.

The vice presidential candidate spoke inside a Byer
Steel warehouse surrounded by piles of I-beams and rebar. A
self-proclaimed Southern gospel rock band played before the event,
occasionally pausing to talk up GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s
conservative credentials.

Much of Ryan’s prepared speech, as well as questions from
participants in the town hall, focused on the economy, the deficit and
the need for changes to entitlement programs.

Asked by an audience member how he would limit government
and eliminate programs, Ryan said he and Romney would spur economic
growth by lessening the tax burdens on small businesses, cut
discretionary spending on government agencies and overhaul entitlement
programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Outside before the rally, protesters called for Ryan —
whose House-passed budget made deeps cuts to many welfare and safety-net
programs — to have more compassion for the poor.

Meanwhile an airplane sponsored by MoveOn.org carried a
banner reading, “Romney: Believe in 55% of America?” referencing
comments revealed in a recent video where Romney claimed 47 percent of
Americans didn’t pay any income tax and viewed themselves as victims
reliant on government so it wasn’t his job to worry about their votes.

“We’re here with several messages, including the
immorality of the Ryan budget and how it will impact the vast majority
of Americans negatively," said David Little with the liberal advocacy
group ProgressOhio. “When a budget protects those with the most and
negatively impacts those with the least, I would suggest that is
immoral.”

Bentley Davis with the Alliance for Retired Americans said
she was concerned about what Romney and Ryan’s plans for Medicare and
Social Security would do to retirement security.

Ryan had proposed to keep Medicare the same for anybody
already 55 and over, but give younger Americans the choice to get money
to spend toward private insurance or stay in a Medicare-like program.

Inside the warehouse was a digital sign that ticked up the national debt, which was at $16 trillion and rising.

“Here is what our government, our Congressional Budget
Office, is telling us our debt is in the future if we stay on the path
that President Obama has kept us on, has put us on … the debt goes as
high as two and a half times the size of our economy by the time my
three kids are my age,” Ryan said.

The Obama campaign fired back in an email response, saying
Ryan used misleading rhetoric to hide his own record and Republican
plans to raise taxes on the middle class to fund tax cuts for wealthier
Americans.

“The Romney-Ryan ticket has plenty
of questions to answer about a failed record on manufacturing and job
creation and their support for policies that will devastate middle class
families by raising their taxes and shipping jobs overseas,” Obama for
America – Ohio Press Secretary Jessica Kershaw wrote.

“These policies would take the growing manufacturing industry backward, not forward.”

For some in the audience, the economy was also on the forefront.

Steve Teal, 56, of West Chester, said he doesn't like the direction the country is going in.

"Just get the country back to work," Teal said. "I don't trust him (Obama). He doesn't stand up for America. He doesn't stand up for Americans."

CityBeat writer Stefane Kremer contributed to this report.

Ryan went from Cincinnati to an event with Romney in Dayton later on Tuesday.

Romney makes case for election at Jet Machine in Bond Hill

There are only a few more weeks of political commercials, ads, promises and accusations flooding the TV and radio before the Nov.
6 presidential election. While many Americans are tired of political
campaigning, Ohio — the most important swing state in the United States —
has been showing a great response toward the campaign as it nears its
end.

On Thursday, 4,000 people lined up outside of Jet Machine
in Bond Hill to hear Republican candidate Mitt Romney speak at 11 a.m.

After flying in to Lunken Airport on Wednesday night,
Romney had breakfast at First Watch in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday
morning before proceeding to the rally in Bond Hill.

His visit in Cincinnati was the first of a three-stop bus
tour in Ohio — along with Worthington and Defiance, Ohio later that
afternoon.

"The Obama campaign is slipping because he keeps talking
about smaller and smaller things when America has such big problems,"
Romney said.

Romney cheered on small businesses and promised that his businesses experience will help turn the economy around.

In a response to the Cincinnati rally, the Obama campaign
explained that Romney's visit was just another attempt to try and
convince Ohio workers that he is on their side and will stand up to
China, when in fact it's the opposite.

"As a corporate buyout specialist, Romney invested in
companies that pioneered the practice of shipping jobs to places like
China, shutting down American plants and firing workers — all while he
walked away with a profit," Jessica Kershaw, Obama for America — Ohio press secretary, explained.

"These jobs are likely to come at the expense of American
workers in cities like Cincinnati, and that’s why the people of Ohio
will not be supporting Mitt Romney this November.”

Romney ended the rally encouraging the Buckeye state to go to the polls and vote early.

"We need to make sure Ohio is able to send a message loud
and clear: We want real change. We want big change," Romney encouraged.

In an attempt to secure Ohio, President Obama is due in
Cincinnati on Halloween. With just two weeks remaining before election
day, a new Ohio poll from TIME.com says that Obama is winning 49 percent of Ohio, compared with Romney's 44 percent.

By no measure can The Wall Street Journal be mistaken for a liberal newspaper, so the findings of its latest poll should greatly disturb Republicans.

A poll released late last week, done in conjunction with NBC News, found that most Americans support collective bargaining rights for workers, want to end the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthyandimpose a surtax on people making more than $1 million annually, and believe economic growth is a higher priority for government than deficit reduction.

Statement of principles presented to staffer outside of West Chester office

Activists gathered on Thursday outside of the West Chester
office of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, asking the House’s top
official to look at reducing military spending when coming up with a
budget.

The group of nearly two dozen — which included nuns, a
veteran, a retiree advocate, a small businessman and progressive
activists — held signs reading, “It is time for Nation Building in the
United States. Cut Massive Pentagon Budget Now!” and “End Tax Breaks for
Richest 2%.”

“We’re here today in front of Speaker of the House John
Boehner’s West Chester office to drive home the fact that we believe
that over 50 percent of the budget magically, this elephant in the
House, has failed to be discussed as we discuss taking away services
that provide human needs,” said David Little of Progress Ohio.

“Any discussion that fails to address excesses in that budget is failing the American people.”

Little added that it was possible to support the troops and veterans without spending billions on pointless wars.

Butler County attorney and Navy veteran Bruce Carter said the military can be more efficient in what he called the changing
mission.

“When you refuse to have a discussion on over half of the
budget, that’s like trying to tell the Bengals to win a game without
going over the 50 yard line,” he said.

The group had a letter to deliver to Boehner, which contained what they called a statement of principles.

“We believe in a holistic approach to the budget crisis,
and in order to protect the middle-class, cuts to the Pentagon need to
be at the forefront,” the letter states. “We understand that Pentagon
cuts are a controversial issue, however, Pentagon cuts in the sequester
do not threaten our national security.”

The letter suggests that some of the money currently being
spent on the Defense Department goes to providing services for veterans.

The military accounted for about 52 percent — or $600 billion — of discretionary spending in fiscal year 2011.

In contrast, education, training and social services collectively made up 9 percent of the budget.

The group of four activists weren’t allowed into Boehner’s
office, but a young staffer met them outside. He said that the speaker
thought everything should be on the table when it came to budget cuts.

City Council took a contentious vote on Thursday to give the city manager a pay raise and a bonus.

Those in favor of the 10 percent raise and $35,000 bonus
for Milton Dohoney say he is underpaid, has done a great job for the city
and has gone five years without a merit raise. Those opposed say it’s bad timing and sends the wrong
message when many city workers have also gone years without a pay
increase.

Dohoney was hired in August 2006. He hasn’t received a
merit raise since 2007, but has collected bonuses and cost of living
adjustments over the years. He currently makes about $232,000 and the
raise would bump that up to $255,000. Dohoney made $185,000 when he started the job.

Council approved the raise on a 6-2 vote, with councilmen Christopher Smitherman and Chris Seelbach voting against it.

Before the vote, Mayor Mark Mallory lauded the manager,
saying he set high expectations and didn’t expect Dohoney to meet them,
but the manager exceeded all of them.

“To do anything other than that
(approve the raise) is a backhanded slap in the face and actually a
statement that we want the manager gone,” Mallory said. “We are going to
give him a raise. And from where I sit we’re not giving him a big
enough raise.”

The raise came from a performance review conducted by
Democratic council members Yvette Simpson, Cecil Thomas and sole council
Republican Charlie Winburn.

Winburn said the city manager’s financial management
system is impeccable, Dohoney has pushed economic development, he has
expanded the tax base and made sacrifices by not receiving a raise for
the previous five years.

Other members of council pointed out that Dohoney isn’t the only city employee who has gone a while without a raise.

“For me, look, 4 years ago I turned down a job at Google
where I’d be making a hell of a lot more money,” Councilman P.G.
Sittenfeld told 700WLW radio host Scott Sloan. “This is public service.
This is already the city’s highest-paid employee.”

Sittenfeld missed the council meeting Thursday afternoon because he was out of town on a personal matter, according to an aide.

Sittenfeld and others have raised questions over whether
it is wise to give Dohoney a raise and bonus when the city faces an
estimated $34 million budget deficit. Councilman Wendell Young said the
raise would not hurt the budget.

Opponents also argued that it would look bad to give the
manager a raise when other city employees are dealing with wage freezes.
Police, for instance, agreed during contact negotiations this year to a
two-year wage freeze. Though they received a raise in 2009.

Smitherman said city employee unions may keep that in mind during upcoming negotiations.

"Unions are going to remember this council extended a $35,000 bonus to the city manager.”

Faced with the choice of raising property taxes or funding
senior and mental health services at their current levels, the
Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners voted on Wednesday to
approve a ballot measure that would effectively cut tens of millions of
dollars from those services if passed by voters.

“It seems wrongheaded for us to ask citizens to pay more
in taxes when their homes are worth less, when costs have gone up in
their households and when in many cases their paychecks are down,” said
Board President Greg Hartmann. “So we need to hold the line on those
property taxes.”

The tax rate would be held at the levels passed by voters
in 2008, which would be an effective reduction due to declining property
values. If Hamilton County voters approve the levies in November,
senior services would see a $7 million reduction in funding over the
next five years — down to $97 million from $104 million — while funding
for mental health services would fall $17 million from $187 million to
$170 million, Hartmann said.

The money funds services such as meals on wheels, in-home care for seniors, counseling and drug and alcohol addiction and treatment services.

The board’s sole Democrat — Commissioner Todd Portune —
made the symbolic gesture of submitting an alternate proposal which
would have funded services at the levels providers had requested, but it
failed without support from either of the board’s two Republican
members.

Portune’s resolution would have increased property taxes
by $5 for every $100,000 the property was worth. He said voters should
be given the option to shoulder the additional tax burden. He later
voted in favor of Hartmann’s resolution, saying the worst thing that
could happen would be for voters to approve no levy.

Commissioners also approved a resolution to formally
review all healthcare services provided by the county in hopes of saving
money by eliminating any that were duplicated at the federal level
under the healthcare overhaul.

Hartmann said he didn’t come to the decision to keep the
levies at the current rate lightly and pledged to work with the
recipients to manage the reduction.

Many of those providers appeared at three public hearings
held in the last month and with near unanimity asked commissioners to
approve the increased rates — which would have kept funding even by
countering the money lost from decreased property values.

Patrick Tribbe, president and CEO of the Hamilton County
Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, didn’t outline specific cuts
the agency would undertake, but told reporters after the commissioners’
vote that he would spend the next six months planning for the start of
the next fiscal year, when the cuts would take effect.

The Tax Levy Review Committee had recommended that the
property tax rate remain flat instead of increasing. It suggested that
service providers reduce their administrative costs and find areas to
increase efficiency.

Many of the providers who spoke at the public hearings
said they had already cut administrative costs about as deeply as they
could and had very little room for to cut further.

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that stopped the presidential election recount in Florida and handed the 2000 election to George W. Bush.

It's difficult to believe that was already 10 years ago. And it's amazing still that A) the Supreme Court acted in such a blatantly political manner to step in and resolve a state election issue, halting a legal recount, and B) that Americans didn't take to the streets to revolt against the power grab by Bush and his Republican cronies.

The Ohio Republican Party has given an excuse for Franklin
County Republican Party Chairman Doug Preisse’s racist comment: Preisse
thought he was off the record. The defense solidifies that
Preisse, who is also a top adviser to Gov. John Kasich, was being honest
— just not public — when he wrote in an email to The Columbus Dispatch,
“I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process
to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout
machine.” The comment was supposed to defend the Ohio Republican Party’s
position against expanding in-person early voting, but it only revealed
that racial politics play a pivotal role in the Republican Party’s
opposition to expanded voting.

Cincinnati has revealed the first master plan for the city
since 1980. The plan seeks to put back an emphasis on urban living with
policies that are friendlier to the environment and non-automotive
transportation.

President Barack Obama’s campaign will host an open
house at the campaign’s new offices at Over-the-Rhine tomorrow. John
Legend will be there.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank is facing a class action
lawsuit for what the plaintiff calls “payday loans.” The plaintiff
alleges that the bank was charging illegally high interest rates.

University of Cincinnati President Greg Williams is
stepping down, citing personal reasons. Santa Onos, who previously
served as provost, will take over temporarily as interim president.

Greater Cincinnati’s unemployment rate, which is not
adjusted for seasonal factors, remained at 7.2 percent in July. The
number is lower than the state’s unadjusted rate of 7.4 percent and the
federal unadjusted rate of 8.6 percent. Governments typically give
numbers that are seasonally adjusted, which is why in July a 7.2 percent
unemployment rate was reported for Ohio and an 8.3 percent unemployment
rate was reported for the United States.

Obama was in Columbus yesterday. During the trip, the president
talked mostly about young people and education in an attempt to rally
the youth vote.

U.S. spending on health care is set to rise by
50 percent by 2020, a new report says. As part of Obamacare and other
programs, the federal government is trying to bring health-care costs
down, which have risen faster than the rate of inflation in recent
history.

Scientists have caught a glimpse of a red giant — an expanding star in its final stages — devouring one of its own planets. The same will happen to our galaxy someday, painting a fairly grim future for Earth. Fortunately, humanity has a few billion years to find a solution.